We may not have to wait terribly long for military people to wake up to what George W. Bush has done to them.

Commanders in Iraq have already begun speaking more openly about the resentments our ongoing presence there tends to fester among the indigenous population.  Because senior military people understand and respect the concept of a chain of command, any visible disagreement with the administration is strongly suggestive of broader and deeper dissatisfactions.

It is becoming hard to see how the situation could be otherwise.  At this point, how many career military officers could fail to see the damage that has been done to their previous aura of invincibility by Bush’s ill-conceived and poorly planned expedition?  How many don’t grasp how serious the implications are for our military’s continued viability, as it becomes harder and harder to retain or recruit qualified personnel?

More to the point, how can you continue to love a guy whose main Presidential "accomplishment" has been to break the thing you've devoted your life to?

A military awakening to the seriousness of Bush’s abandonment and abuse of a public trust could be exactly what the rest of the country needs to begin acknowledging what has been done to us all.  When a no-nonsense soldier who has made some personal sacrifices says “Enough,” it simply carries more weight than when a college student objects.

Having the military and the police repudiate Bush can also begin to break down the macho aura that he has up to now so skillfully manipulated to cloak his ruinously expensive self-indulgences.  It can help all of us remember that what’s being looted is our money and future--and that there is nothing particularly manly about allowing ourselves to be flimflammed out of it.